The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a bedrock law that has saved approximately 99% of its listed species from extinction, making it one of the few laws that remains immensely popular with the American public. And yet, some members of Congress are dead set on weakening it—jeopardizing the animals who depend on it for survival. And we need your help to stop them!
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Natural Resources approved six bills that would take away protections from species like grizzly bears and gray wolves and weaken the ESA. This kind of public policy, where politics is put ahead of science, puts these already vulnerable species at even greater risk.
We've already seen what can happen when Congress removes a population from the ESA: In 2011, Congress yanked away wolves' ESA protections in Montana and Idaho. Since then, thousands of wolves there—including pups—have been brutally slaughtered, and the two states have continued to pursue new and crueler ways to kill wolves.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on these measures in the coming weeks, so now is the time to take action to protect wolves, grizzlies and the Endangered Species Act itself. Please contact your U.S. Representative and urge them to vote NO on any legislation that weakens the ESA.
Dear Legislator,
As your constituent, I am writing to urge you to protect the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and vote no on any bill or resolution that weakens the ESA or removes protections from the vulnerable animals that rely on it for survival.
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Natural Resources passed six bills and resolutions that remove ESA protections from grizzly bears and gray wolves and weaken the law itself. This "grab bag" of danger includes:
- The Trust the Science Act, H.R. 764, removes Endangered Species Act protection for gray wolves in the lower 48 states.
- The Grizzly Bear State Management Act, H.R. 1245, removes Endangered Species Act protection for grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem population.
- The Comprehensive Grizzly Bear Management Act, H.R. 1419, removes Endangered Species Act protection for grizzly bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem population.
- House Joint Resolution 29 nullifies a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decision to protect the lesser prairie-chicken under the Endangered Species Act.
- House Joint Resolution 46 nullifies a joint decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service to increase the habitat that the Endangered Species Act can protect for the benefit of species facing extinction.
- House Joint Resolution 49 nullifies a decision by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the northern long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act.
The Endangered Species Act has saved approximately 99% of its listed species from extinction—like the bald eagle, whose numbers had plummeted by the 1970s, but thanks to the ESA, still grace our national landscape—and because of this it is one of the few laws that still remains immensely popular with the American public.
The House of Representatives is expected to vote on these measures in the coming weeks and I urge you to take action to protect wolves, grizzlies and the Endangered Species Act by voting no on any of these bills or resolutions.
